It is of course common practice to provide adjustable-length shoulder straps on women's pocketbooks and the like, as by using a sliding buckle or similar arrangement. In many instances however the strap is not provided with means for adjusting its effective length, and it is therefore the broad object of the present invention to provide a novel device that is adapted to that purpose.
Moreover, it is often the case that the ends of a pocketbook strap are permanently affixed to the purse, thereby making the addition of parts that are conventionally used for adjustment difficult or, indeed, impossible to achieve. Consequently, it is a more specific object of the invention to provide a novel strap-shortening device that can be installed onto a strap that is devoid of free ends.
Further objects of the invention are to provide such a device which is of relatively simple and inexpensive design and construction, is relatively easy to put into place on the strap, and which also affords aesthetic attributes and a wide latitude of length variation. Additional objects are to provide a novel assembly of a strap and a device having the foregoing features and advantages.
The prior art describes a wide variety of buckles and other fasteners used for different kinds of straps and belts. Typical are the elements shown in Mix U.S. Pat. No. 1,675,040; Goldsmith et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,012,466; Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 2,713,708; Takabayashi U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,726; Bengtsson U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,531 and Kasai U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,783. None of the foregoing fasteners is however adapted to achieve the objectives of the present invention, hereinabove set forth.